Marco Polo

A Journey on the Silk Road

Philip Freeman

An extraordinary new biography of Marco Polo and his journey along the Silk Road, from the celebrated author of Hannibal, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar.

From the acclaimed author of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Hannibal comes a vivid new biography of Marco Polo and his journey along the Silk Road, as recorded during his remarkable Travels and other medieval sources. It tells the story of his life and times from boyhood in Venice, his travels across Asia to China as a teenager, his years and adventures at the court of the great Kublai Khan, and his long voyage home to Italy. Along the way he encountered people, cultures, and marvels no one in Europe had ever seen or even imagined.

It’s been twenty years since the last biography of Marco Polo. Now, drawing on new source material and discoveries, including material only recently made available in translation from Chinese and Mongolian sources, this biography promises to be an engaging and illuminating narrative. In addition, Freeman himself followed the Silk Road by train, jeep, and camel in the footsteps of Marco Polo from Venice to Jerusalem, the Middle East, the mountains of Central Asia, and the deserts of China, completing the journey by sailing as Marco did from China back to Italy by way of Vietnam, Sumatra, and India, to discover first-hand Marco Polo's world.

Philip Freeman’s facility with ancient and medieval languages, his extensive personal travels, and years of teaching experience (including as an endowed chair of the humanities), make him the perfect author to bring Marco Polo and his journeys to life.

Philip Freeman received his Ph.D. in Classics and Celtic Studies at Harvard University and holds the Qualley Chair of Classical Languages at Luther College. He is the author of thirteen books, including a number of nonfiction titles and his fictional Sister Deirdre series, Saint Brigid’s Bones and Sacrifice. His most recent work, Searching for Sappho, was published by W. W. Norton in 2016. Philip lives in Decorah, Iowa.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Philip Freeman’s Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy

"Freeman gives his readers much to consider in learning about a totally alien world in an easy, uncomplicated lively prose about an epic tale." New York Journal of Books

"Freeman writes beautifully and with picturesque vision when chronicling Hannibal’s most famous feat." Merion West

“Freeman vividly, almost cinematically, brings to life the career of Hannibal Barca, the great but ill-fated Carthaginian general whose tactical and strategic brilliance is still studied today. A simultaneously propulsive and nuanced account that hums on the page.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Roman historians have cast Hannibal Barca as a cruel, uncouth barbarian, but Philip Freeman’s panoramic biography Hannibal supplies evidence that the great Carthaginian military leader was an educated statesman and diplomat, notable for his devotion to his country, family, and troops. Hannibal is an epic biography of the military genius who nearly ended Rome’s imperial expansion." Foreword Reviews

“Freeman offers a highly readable, well-organized military and personal biography of the Carthaginian general who nearly changed history, vividly revealing more amazing scenarios in Hannibal’s life and battles than any writer could concoct in a novel. Freeman ends with fascinating speculation on how the modern world would look if Hannibal had won. [A] vivid, fast-moving account.” Booklist

Praise for Philip Freeman’s Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great:

“Freeman’s cultural and historical knowledge bring the emperor to life and humanize him in a way no writer before him has succeeded in doing.” Publishers Weekly

“Here, in vivid and exciting detail, are all the familiar highlights of Alexander’s career: the battles, the tempestuous relationships, the dazzling ambitions, the mysterious death in Babylon. Mr. Freeman’s ambition, he tells us in his introduction, was ‘to write a biography of Alexander that is first and foremost a story.’ It is one he splendidly fulfills.” The Wall Street Journal

“Freeman does not hero worship Alexander, and does not paper over his subject’s many faults. At times, Alexander can seem like an almost mythic figure, but, as Freeman shows, he was all too human.” The Boston Globe

"The greatest victory of the book, however, is Freeman’s storytelling. This biography stands out from others written about Alexander thanks to its smooth flow and interesting narrative. It is, as Freeman hopes, a history book for those readers who are not already experts on Alexander or his world.” The Saturday Evening Post